The FA-1 / FB-1 Locomotive is Back

[Cajonpassfan]

It is something we are looking into.  We have to figure out if the tooling is arranged so the large number boards can be molded, so we held back any name that has the large boards in case it is possible.

Makes perfect sense. Thank you for communicating with us @Atlas Paul!
Otto K.

[C855B]

... Hopefully Atlas will have addressed the electrical cutout issue. ...

Observation here is the wired trucks on the latest release (C628/C630, SD35) are to help with this.

FWIW, I've found the Kato-style contact tabs are generally good but not 100%. It's my observation the brass/bronze oxidizes on both the truck contact and the spring strip, which I mitigate with contact cleaner. In the DC/DCC non-sound environment the flywheels tend to mask these micro contact breaks, while sound (absent auxiliary keep-alive) is unforgiving.

[peteski]

Observation here is the wired trucks on the latest release (C628/C630, SD35) are to help with this.

I'm not a fan at all.  Some updatees or "improvements" made by manufacturers are actually steps backward. 

Just like Victor Miranda, I try to eliminate wires as much as possible (especially in places where there is constant movement, like truck-to-chassis contacts).  Well-adjusted (properly tensioned), and cleaned pickup strips work very well.  That is the most common truck-to-chassis current transfer method on a great majority of my locos, and also locos I service belonging to my NTRAK club members and owners of few layouts I operate on (and I also service many of those locos). In my servicing experiences, that contact area is nowhere as problematic as dirty wheels.  Whenever I service a model I polish the contact areas using a metal polishing paste. That seems to protect the contact areas from oxidizing. I've seen others applying a bit of oil or grease there.

I also really like the ease of servicing when trucks just drop out (without a need to disconnect any wires). Also, without any strain relief the stripped and terminated wire ends tend to be a weak spot where they will eventually break after being stressed by constant movement. I guess we'll see how these work out over time. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That brings up a concern I have about these units for larger consists.  Will they have a large capaciter set, or some other "keep alive" type system?

AMEN!!!!

I maintain that it should be ILLEGAL to sell sound equipped decoders or locomotives WITHOUT keep alives. ESPECIALLY in N.

As you can see, I am extremely passionate about this.

[DMetz]

Dan, how did you manage to connect the BLI PA locos electrically? I have a similar issue but can't find any soldering tabs on the board and the frame is insulated.
Otto K.

Observation here is the wired trucks on the latest release (C628/C630, SD35) are to help with this.

The BLI PAs also have wired trucks.  To connect the units, I added a wire to each of the rear truck pickups.  I just soldered the new wire on top of the existing truck pickup wire, at the pickup tab.  I used some left over decoder wire.  I routed the new wire beside the original wire to the top of the frame, then down the back, with an appropriate length for a loop between the units.  The shell pinches the wire very slightly, and seems to hold it in place, with no problems.  I have not found a connector that I liked, so that the units could be separated.  So I soldered the wires together between the units.  If the frame was milled, there could be room for a connector between the units.  Otherwise, any connector would be very visible, and may interfere with the couplers or trucks.

It is a struggle to get both units on the track.  If the connecting wires were any stiffer, it could cause derailment issues.  And they like to tangle in the couplers.  I left the original Micro-Train couplers in place, but I wish I had replaced them with Red Caboose dummys.  They never separate, and I could close the gap between units. 

The major problem with this wireing method is it is impossible to program each decoder seperately.  I anticipated this, so I turned one of the motors over, so it runs "backwards".  Now I can use one address for both decoders, and the locos run the same direction, back to back.  But I cannot adjust the sound effects seperately.   There is a setting that has the sounds at a different pitch from each other.

I really hate this modification, but it is much better than the frustration of the units cutting out all of the time.  I am sure the wires between the units will break at some point, due to the flexing.  And the wires from the trucks to the decoder are bad also.  But it runs and sounds really good right now.  And it was the only way to prevent the $340 for both units from being a total loss.

Dan

[peteski]

IIRC, BLI diesels in general had major pickup issues.  Don't remember what the fix was - it could be mentioned in some older posts here or on Mark's (Spookshow's) website.  But I also seem to recall that the problem could be resolved without need for workarounds like yours.

[thomasjmdavis]

Happy to see that Atlas is getting all these former Life Like models to market in fairly short order (and with a variety of improvements). I am not positive, but I think this may be Atlas first release of a cab unit since the Atlas-Roco FA1 of 1978.  An "Atlas-Roco" FA1 was one of my first N scale purchases- nice running loco for the time. 

The only downside I see is the "caveat emptor" on eBay, as no doubt, the day after the new FA1s hit the market, the 40 year old Atlas-Roco versions will be showing up as "Atlas-new-old stock" and such.

If there is a re-tooled E unit chassis down the road... I have a "passel" of LL Es that could benefit from 21st century chassis. (is "chassis" the plural of "chassis"?)

[delamaize]

Hey @Atlas Paul, When can we expect some SP&S Love? 

[GhengisKong]

And if Paul chimes back in, can we expect the E-units to be run within 3-5 years?

[Cajonpassfan]

IIRC, BLI diesels in general had major pickup issues.  Don't remember what the fix was - it could be mentioned in some older posts here or on Mark's (Spookshow's) website.  But I also seem to recall that the problem could be resolved without need for workarounds like yours.

I'm not aware of any real"fixes"; if there are, I'd like to know. My PA "fix" was replacing TT wheelsets with non-TT wheels (at the cost of loss of adhesion) and cramming in as much tungsten and tungsten putty as possible (to improve said adhesion and electrical conductivity). Better, but not optimal; capacitors would definitely help if I knew where to connect them to Paragon 2 board.
Otto K.

[Point353]

If there is a re-tooled E unit chassis down the road... I have a "passel" of LL Es that could benefit from 21st century chassis. (is "chassis" the plural of "chassis"?)

The shells for some of the E units could benefit from a "nose job".

[up1950s]

Depends upon how much of the frame gets carved away to allow installation of a decoder and speaker.

And if you get a unit without vocal chords will the frame still be the larynx channeled one that the sound version has ?

[OldEastRR]

I wonder now if Bachmann is going to produce these locos. Maybe they have had them in the works before this.

[brokemoto]

I'm not a fan at all.  Some updatees or "improvements" made by manufacturers are actually steps backward. 

Just like Victor Miranda, I try to eliminate wires as much as possible (especially in places where there is constant movement, like truck-to-chassis contacts).  Well-adjusted (properly tensioned), and cleaned pickup strips work very well.

I also really like the ease of servicing when trucks just drop out (without a need to disconnect any wires). Also, without any strain relief the stripped and terminated wire ends tend to be a weak spot where they will eventually break after being stressed by constant movement.

The drawbacks of the LL plastic frame FP-Whatever, BL-2 and FA-2 was the flexing wires soldered to pivotting trucks.  The wires came undone on several of mine.  When LL issued the plastic frame PAs and E-units, they had the bronze contact strips embedded in the plastic frame.  It worked well.  I do not remember one of those locomotives' losing contact.  You had the isolated motor already, as LL soldered wires to the contact strips and to the motor terminals.  The wires were there, but did not flex.

The contact strips on the split metal frames were supposed to be a step forward. In fact, when MDC issued its 2-6-0, it went to contact strips in the tender, as opposed to the wires soldered to the pivotting trucks on
the 2-8-0.  When Athearn took over MDC and re-issued the 2-8-0, it had contact strips in the tender.  In fact, on the MDC 2-8-0, you unscrew those trucks at your risk and PERIL.  I got away with it once, to do an MT conversion.  I was fortunate that I did not break off the wires.

[Mark5]

I wonder now if Bachmann is going to produce these locos.

Probably!  (see the recently released SD9)

Mark